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Read GA's post again... It does NOT say that. If one read that into it... they did not read what GA posted.

There ARE two things I can say:1) Folks who ARE Christians AND practice the faith as instructed in Scripture... behave differently and from a different heart than others. (and)
2) Folks who are not Christians do not understand.
There is literally NO way I can explain it... just is.

However I can say this: Scripture says these things are Spiritually revealed by God to Gods' Children (Christians)... so obviously others would not see it.

Nothing against the Jewish race or faith... my Savior Jesus was of Jewish blood. However the Orthodox Jewish faith rejected Him, and still do. BTW: We have lots of Messianic Jewish temples here in Atlanta... I have visited a number of them and attended one for almost half a year (was dating a Messianic Jewish lady). Took a course there and learned a HUGE amount about the traditional Jewish faith; the feasts, the seasons, etc.

I will give the Jewish folks this: They are a LOT more zealous for their faith than most Christians.

As to who said what I originally responded to:

Posted by hearthman
Because most non-Christians do not understand or accept the precepts of Christianity they cannot accept that someone would willingly take care of a stranger............ .

You then responded to me seemingly in defense of his post & then proceeded on with a post that I didn't think was relevant to what I responded to. Your last post that I'm responding to now sort of says it all especially the highlighted part.
That type of belief is the very thing that divides humanity. Each religion thinking that their way is the only way.
God is beyond all religion, he needs no temple to hear us & no mediator to understand us. It is our own arrogance that assumes we know the only way to reach him.

Gary
-----------http://www.oceanhvac.com
An engineer designs what he would never work on.
A technician works on what he would never design.

There is in fact only one way to reach Him, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the distinction between all other religions and Christianity. This comes of as arrogant to some about Christianity and refered to as "Holier than Thou". Religious folks have muddied the waters of who Jesus is and why He came. He did not come so that we could all wear robes and sing hymns and gather in groups to pat each other on the back about the great things we have done. He came to save us from eternal death by taking the judgement of our sins which is death, that we deserve, upon himself and sacrificing himself for us Christian and non-Christian. He commanded us to witness to all people and gather as a body to WORSHIP HIM. It is not about us but about Him. It is true that as Christians the Truth is revealed to us, so non-Christians do not see the truth as we do. Not because we are somehow better than anyone else but because we have submitted to the Almighty who is greater than anyone or anything. The Church, Christ's Bride, is not a building or one denomination or another it is the whole body of believers in Jesus Christ, we are one Church many locations. Other religions base their redemption on good works where Christianity is based on Jesus Christ and that He is the only one who can save us from the punishment for our sins.

I stand by my statement. Non-Christians, especially Leftists have made it public many times that they reject the notion of leaving charity to the good graces of their fellow man because they have been trained to distrust charitable giving in favor of taxation. The sad reality is they are trading trust in God with trust in government. That is tragic. So Gary, when I hear mobs screaming into microphones that Christian republicans are cheap, don't give up their money and are not to be trusted, I see the devil at work. Whenever someone calls for taxation of another to promote some cause of theirs, that is envy and coveteousness of wealth, which violates the 10th Commandment. That is my point Gary.

Explain this to me Gary: why is it if I make a lot of money, I'm being greedy but when you call for taking my money through taxation that is not greed?

You then responded to me seemingly in defense of his post & then proceeded on with a post that I didn't think was relevant to what I responded to. Your last post that I'm responding to now sort of says it all especially the highlighted part.That type of belief is the very thing that divides humanity. Each religion thinking that their way is the only way.
God is beyond all religion, he needs no temple to hear us & no mediator to understand us. It is our own arrogance that assumes we know the only way to reach him.

Scripture (the Bible) is CLEAR on what God (The author of the Bible, and the foundation of the Christian faith) expects... GA and Hearth and others are only speaking the message.

If one does not like the message... do not shoot the messenger.

Lets do a simple analogy:

Lets say a totally deaf person walked into a club with dancing... To this deaf person, dancing would be totally ridiculous... because they cannot hear the music.

It is the same with Christianity; If one does not KNOW God (know God as in personal relationship)... then they just do not understand.

Hint: Learn to think outside the box.

BTW: In the USA, each citizen has a right to choose their religion (or no religion)... however the exercise of that religion has limitations... only so long as the actions of the individual(s) do not usurp any basic rights of others... IE: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Rights, BTW, given by the Creator (God)... and ONLY guaranteed (not given) by the govt.

There is in fact only one way to reach Him, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the distinction between all other religions and Christianity. This comes of as arrogant to some about Christianity and refered to as "Holier than Thou". Religious folks have muddied the waters of who Jesus is and why He came. He did not come so that we could all wear robes and sing hymns and gather in groups to pat each other on the back about the great things we have done. He came to save us from eternal death by taking the judgement of our sins which is death, that we deserve, upon himself and sacrificing himself for us Christian and non-Christian. He commanded us to witness to all people and gather as a body to WORSHIP HIM. It is not about us but about Him. It is true that as Christians the Truth is revealed to us, so non-Christians do not see the truth as we do. Not because we are somehow better than anyone else but because we have submitted to the Almighty who is greater than anyone or anything. The Church, Christ's Bride, is not a building or one denomination or another it is the whole body of believers in Jesus Christ, we are one Church many locations. Other religions base their redemption on good works where Christianity is based on Jesus Christ and that He is the only one who can save us from the punishment for our sins.

Originally Posted by hearthman

I stand by my statement. Non-Christians, especially Leftists have made it public many times that they reject the notion of leaving charity to the good graces of their fellow man because they have been trained to distrust charitable giving in favor of taxation. The sad reality is they are trading trust in God with trust in government. That is tragic. So Gary, when I hear mobs screaming into microphones that Christian republicans are cheap, don't give up their money and are not to be trusted, I see the devil at work. Whenever someone calls for taxation of another to promote some cause of theirs, that is envy and coveteousness of wealth, which violates the 10th Commandment. That is my point Gary.

Explain this to me Gary: why is it if I make a lot of money, I'm being greedy but when you call for taking my money through taxation that is not greed?

GREAT posts guys!

One thought to add: Jesus Christ VOLUNTARILY went to the cross and sacrificed His life... Hey... Because He has this HUGE love for fellow people.

Now: Show me ANY religion, faith, god, or form of worship that centers around a 'God' or 'god' that includes all the following:
1) The supreme being is supposed to be all-powerful.
2) The supreme being transcends all time (always was and always will be).
3) The supreme being loved the world (that is, humans) so much, He voluntarily chose to send His ONLY son (and that son voluntarily chose) to sacrifice His mortal life for those lost human beings.
4) Where salvation is based 100% on what was done voluntarily by the supreme being and His Son... and has NOTHING to do with good works.
5) Where a believer's heart is changed by what was done FOR him by the supreme being and His Son... so radical is the change, the believer WANTS to help others.
Go ahead, please show me just one other faith than Christianity which has all 5 of the attributes above.

And while you are at it... show me just one polecat who would do all those things for their fellow man with no strings attached and no financial or career gain... just one teeny polecat of that flavor.

I think I'm going to have to bow out of this discussion. As much as I believe in God, I still have my doubts & can't honestly say that I know I'm right in my beliefs. I've prayed to god, sang to God & even written songs to God but I still don't know God. I'm thankful for whatever faith I have but I can't stand on a false pretense of knowledge & argue my faith against another's. I'm just not there yet so I'll leave it at that.

Gary
-----------http://www.oceanhvac.com
An engineer designs what he would never work on.
A technician works on what he would never design.

I am 100% sure that my God is the one and only God. I have a personal relationship with Him without a doubt. He guides me on a daily basis through even the most mundane things, and speaks to me through His Word, sometimes extremeley clear and other times not as clear. There is no maybe in the question "Are you saved?" it is yes or no, you either know or don't know.

I think I'm going to have to bow out of this discussion. As much as I believe in God, I still have my doubts & can't honestly say that I know I'm right in my beliefs. I've prayed to god, sang to God & even written songs to God but I still don't know God. I'm thankful for whatever faith I have but I can't stand on a false pretense of knowledge & argue my faith against another's. I'm just not there yet so I'll leave it at that.

Just a thought here: When one is in doubt about their faith in the God of the Bible... how about reading the Bible.

Start with the Gospel of John... then the other 3 gospels. Then just ask God where to go next and go there. You will know what to do.

I am 100% sure that my God is the one and only God. I have a personal relationship with Him without a doubt. He guides me on a daily basis through even the most mundane things, and speaks to me through His Word, sometimes extremeley clear and other times not as clear. There is no maybe in the question "Are you saved?" it is yes or no, you either know or don't know.

I am also... albeit there have been times I wondered (circumstances got in the way of my faith). Funny how those 'experiences' strengthened my faith.

"We hold these truth's to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This clearly mimics the teachings of the Bible in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.

yea, right.....lol

Jefferson was a diest so who knows what he meant......lol

This country was formed simply because we were tired of supporting the british empire and not getting back anything in return. We became the kings meal ticket so to speak and we got tired of it. They didnt give more than a passing thought to religion when writing the dec of independance or the constitution....other than to say government should keep its nose out of peoples religious beliefs.

Just some trivia here..... but I read that after Jefferson wrote the preamble to the constitution.... part of which you have copied and pasted into your post.... that he personally tied several of his slaves that he had with him to a fence post and began beating them with a whip while screaming over and over again...."All men are created equal"...... Ben Franklin and John Adams finally tackled him and calmed him down before he killed those boys...

This country was formed simply because we were tired of supporting the british empire and not getting back anything in return. We became the kings meal ticket so to speak and we got tired of it. They didnt give more than a passing thought to religion when writing the dec of independance or the constitution....other than to say government should keep its nose out of peoples religious beliefs.

WRONG!

The first reason is correct about England. But, what you missed here is that they also didn't like that the Church of England also had their fingers in English politics. The framers of the constitution WERE men who had very strong religious convictions. Many different religions. The beauty of the words written was to not allow any one religion to be "the religion" the new country. Freedom of religion means to allow anyone to choose his religion, not the "governments" religion.

This has been misconstrued in recent years by people who have a anti-religious agenda.

According to the writers of the constitution, we shall never become a "Muslin" or any other sole religious country.
Now the question is, "Will we let this change"?

The first reason is correct about England. But, what you missed here is that they also didn't like that the Church of England also had their fingers in English politics. The framers of the constitution WERE men who had very strong religious convictions. Many different religions. The beauty of the words written was to not allow any one religion to be "the religion" the new country. Freedom of religion means to allow anyone to choose his religion, not the "governments" religion.

This has been misconstrued in recent years by people who have a anti-religious agenda.

According to the writers of the constitution, we shall never become a "Muslin" or any other sole religious country.
Now the question is, "Will we let this change"?

At this point in the game no one knows what our founders where. There has been to much rewriting of history to suit peoples agendas, wether they want to support secular government or, to prove that we aren't atheist like the soviets where.

I'm happy not to become any sole religious country, wether that religion is Muslim, Chrisitan or Scientology for that matter.